The Mausoleum of Gengghis Khan

The Mausoleum of Gengghis Khan is situated in Ejin Horo Banner, 65 kilometers from Dongsheng City. It is at the foot of the hills and beside a stream. It covers an area of 55544 sq. meters. The mausoleum is made up of three tombs shaped like Mongolian yurts and inlaid with colorful glazed tiles. The central building resembles the historical gate symbolizing a bun-shaped Mongolian yurt. The three inter-linked halls, which look like Mongolian yurts, consist of six parts: a central hall, the east hall, the east and west hall, the west corridors and the back hall.

Now the Darhut people-- the descendants of Gengghis Khan guard the mausoleum allÃ‚Â year round. They hold a memorial ceremony and courtesy four times a year, that is, on March 21, on May 15, on September 12 and on October 3. Thousands of people come to the mausoleum for worship or for sight-seeing. Sometimes an Ordos wedding is held in the mausoleum.

Standing in a grove in peaceful pasture land some 15km southeast of the Town of Atengxilian in inner Mongolia.Ã‚Â The Mausoleum of Genghis Khan whom Mao Zedong had in a poem referred to as "the proud son of heaven".Atengxilian is a small town situated in the Yikingbolo Banner or Qi of the Ikchor
Prefecture in what is now known as the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region in china.

Genghis Khan whose original name Temujin was in his day the supreme rular of the Mongolian tribes. A great strategist and atatesman, he was regarded by the Mongolss as a divine ruler.When Genghis Khan was 13 years old,he lost his farther. After this ,many of his fellow clansmen deserted the clan,some even turning traitors. Thus his mother and the children led a hard life pasturing the few horses still in their possession.These difficult times had left a deep impression on young Temujin who,even as a child,cherished great ambitions for himelf..As he grew older,he became a master of martial skills and began to contemplate great plans for the future. Once the few horses of the family were stolen plans for the future.Once the few horses of the family were stolen in the night and Temujin went after the thieves in pursuit by following the hoof-prints on the ground. Day and night he kept galloping until a couple of days later he found the horses tethered before a yurt far away from home. After making sure that the thieves were not in,,he untethered the horses and started driving them home.Unfortunately the thieves came back quickly and he was caught.After beating the boy hard they locked him up in a wooden stockade for later execution in the hills. Fortunately a kind-hearted herdsman came to his help at night, setting him free and pointing the way to escape.Although he had succeeded in getting free,he was utterly worn out and hungry and the wounds hurt badly. Then in the darkness he saw a yurt and, plucking up courge, walked in, telling the host what had happened to him. The family was very kind and sympathetic. They took him in. The next day when the thieves started a search for Temujin, the son of the family had him hidden in a cart laden with raw wool, thus helping him to make good his escape.

His experiences in those days made Temujin realize that a man who had real courage and determination would in the end regain what he had lost and that a man who had the help of friends could have his personal safety ensured. So after this he made as many friends as he could and befriended young Mongols of different tribes with a view to restoring the former glory of his ancestors. At the turn of the thirteenth century, he at last succeeded in unifying the Mongolian tribes and in 1206 was proclaimed Genghis Khan, that is, the universal ruler of the Mongols. Following the founding of the Yuan Dynasty in 1271, he was posthumously honoured as Emperor Taizu of Yuan or the founding emperor.

Ten years after he was made Khan, Temujin conquered the Kingdom of Jin in north China, thus extending his sphere of influence to the Yellow River vally. Meanwhile he had captured the region centring around today's Beijing which in those days was the capital of Jin known as Zhongdu or the Middle Capital. A couple of years later, he mounted an expedition to the west and conquered such Central Asian kingdoms as Khwarezm and after defeating the allied forces of Russians and other tribes at Kalka River established his dominion over a large part of Central Asia.

On his first western expedition, Genghis Khan and his army once made their way across the Ordos Plateau. He was so intoxicated with the enchanting scenery there that involuntarily he dropped his horsewhip. Sitting on horseback, he contemplated the surrounding scenery for a long time,muttering his admiration and then with deep emotion said, "Here the fallen dynasty will regain its glory. Here a peaceful and prosperous nation will live on firever. Here young sika deer will grow strong. Here a hoary old man will find eternal peace". In this way he expressed his will that he be buried at this spot after death. In 1227, which he was conducting his campaign for the conquest of the kingdom of Xixia(His Hsia),he died in the middle of his march. His aides then escoted the dead body back to the spot which he had chosen for his burial ground although it was an enormous distance away. After this ,the place was renamed Yikingbolo which means the mausoleum of the great master.

According to historical records, the region used to be fertile grassland with extensive tracts of pasture and many clear rivers. Owing to a succession of wars and destructive over-pasturing in the past few centuries,desertification has set in and not much pastureland is still there. For decades before the founding of the People's Republic of China, not only had the mausoleum of Genghis Khan fallen to ruin owing to exposure to the elements but his casket together with the remains had been removed by some warlord to another province. It was only in 1954 when in compliance with the wishes of the Mongolian nationality that the government of the Autonomous Region of Inner Mongolia had the casket and the remains moved back from the Taer Lamasery in Qinghai Province. With special appropriations from the central government in Beijing, s new mausoleum with a total floor space of 1500asquare metres was built on the original site.

Although the mausoleum is situated in the north in the deserts, the roads that lead to it, rather rugged, are lined with poplars and weeping willows. The mausoleum itself has for its setting green grasslands and shimmering blue lakes in the midst of which herds of cattle and sheep range and graze in a leisurely manner. Once one gets atop the knoll known as Gandeerao the majestic mausoleum comes into view, its three resplendent domes, resembling those of yurts, glittering in the midst of trees. The domes are covered with blue glaze tiles. The colour combination and design, much adored by the Mongols, are symbols of purity and benignity. From right in front ,the central hall and the two wings present the appearance of a giant standing head and shoulders above a rounded knoll. Looked at from either side at distance, the mausoleum, with the dome of the central hall standing higher than the two domes of the wings and with the central hall connecting with the back hall where caskets lie at rest, looks like a giant eagle soaring on its wings.

The central hall, which is more than 20 metres high, is the memorial hall. Octogonal in shape, it has tall columns and is capped by a double-tier roof. Under the yurt-like dome inside the hall, one sees a vault with a beautiful-painted coffer. In front of the central hall stand two 12-metre-high flag poles between which is a large pagoda-shaped censer for burning cypress leaves. The censer is studded with decorative bronze bells which give melodious rings in the wind. The central hall which sits on a solid granite base is ringed round by marble balustrades that bear delicately carved designs. Under the eaves in front is hung a huge vertical board on which are inscribed, in both Chinese and Mongol, words which stand for"The Mausoleum of Genghis Khan". In the center of the hall is a sculpture of Genghis Khan, five metres high and in sitting posture,wearing armour and war robe, his sword carried at the waist. The inside walls are decorated with carved designs, all very vivid, including images of mountains, rivers, grassland and animals.

The central hall is where all ceremonial activities are held. According to the Mongols, the seventeenth day of the third moon each year is the day to celebrate the military genius and exploits of Genghis Khan. On the day , people come to the mausoleum from all parts of the autonomous region to present hadas(ceremonial white silk ribbons),burn candles and incense and lay out on the altar with deep reverence the most sacred of all offerings of the nation such as whole sheep, fresh cow and goat milk ,butter, wine brewed of horse milk etc.

In the back hall are three huge soul repositories known as Ling'baos in Chinese, each covered by a large piece of yellow stain. In the middle one are the caskets together with the remains of Genghis Khan and his three wives. The two on the side contain the caskets of Genghis Khan's two younger brother. On the outer the art and religious faith of the Mongols. Before the soul repositories stands a huge altar on which are laid out censers and butter-burning lamps.

In the eastern hall re the caskets with remains of the fourth son of Genghis Khan and his wife while in the western one are on display the weapons once used by the supreme ruler of the Mongols, such as spear, sword, saddle and so on. The two roofed galleries linking up the central hall with the two on the wings are now used as exhibition halls of archaeological finds and cultural relics of the Ikchor League or Prefecture,showing its history from pre-history times to the modern age. On the walls here are painting depicting in detail the life and achievements of Genghis Khan-his birth, his falling into the hands of the horse thieves, his expeditions to east and west, his successful unification of the Mongolian tribes etc. Looking at the display of picture from the beginning to the end whose dominant colours are shades of blue, one has the feeling that the whole course of history of the Mongols is placed before him.

With the majestic musoleum standing in a setting of beautiful grassland, luxuriant tree groves, glistening lakes and flcks of white sheep, visitors here are greeted with picturesque scenicsights that will long remain in their memory.